The Dark Fire Faerie
by regalwizard
Summary: My second attempt at writting a Neopets story. This one's about the Maraquan faerie. Second chapter up! And I've finally started working on the third, so you can stop throwing things at me. Please?
1. The flaming Guild and the necklace

"We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this late breaking bulletin." The TV in the lounge blared. "The mysterious faerie statue in the ruins of the once proud state of Maraqua has just disappeared! The statue has vanished as quietly and mysteriously as it arrived. How anyone was able to move it is under investigation, as no neopet or faerie has been able to so much as shift it from where it appeared. We go live now to…"  
  
The front door flew open with a resounding crash, startling Ken and myself.  
  
"I'm a Wherdbit!" our owner loudly announced as she walked in the door.  
  
With a resigned sigh, Ken shook his head slowly as he walked into the pantry.  
  
"Another fun day at the Guild?" he called over his shoulder.  
  
"Yup! I got promoted to the Council, and we finally figured out what I am."  
  
"You had to go to the Guild for that? We could've told you what you are."  
  
"Ken… Don't you two start fighting again." I warned him.  
  
"Oh, come on Kyry, it's all in fun. I don't mean it. Much." He added with a sly grin.  
  
My owner just smiled cheerfully, ruffling Ken's fur as she headed up to her room. I think I should take this brief moment of quiet to introduce myself. I'm a blue Gelert named Kjrstjn, but you can call me Kyry. I live with my owner Regalwizard, my little sister Maxamiliana03, and my two brothers, Kendogarurumon15 and Zafara489neo. Maxa's a blue Chomby, Ken's a fire Lupe, Zapo's a blue Zafara, and Regal's… well, let's just say that Regal's a little on the weird side. The place gets a little crazy at times, but it's still fun. And there are quiet mome…  
  
BOOOM!  
  
So much for the quiet. I raced into the lounge, only to find Zapo and Maxa having yet another fight. Zapo was, as always, losing, but he was, also as always, going down fighting. Ken skidded in on my heels (which really does hurt. Has anyone ever told you that?), and quickly separated them with his Fiery Roar.  
  
"All right you two. What started this?" Regal came striding in, her red cloak flapping behind her in an effort to keep up.  
  
"He started it!"  
  
"ME? You're the one who wouldn't listen!"  
  
Zapo and Maxa started arguing again, ignoring even Ken's Roar. Quickly using my Twisting Vines, I tied them up, effectively stopping the fight. For now. Seating herself in a chair, Regal looked at the two troublemakers.  
  
"Now, you two are going to tell me what happened. I don't care who started it, just what caused all this."  
  
Zapo took a deep breath, glared at Maxa, and started.  
  
"I was trying to convince her to get painted. All she wants to do is stay a boring blue Chomby. All of us will be painted except for her. It'll make a mockery of us! Make her change her colour! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?"  
  
"I like being blue!" Maxa protested. "Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that I shouldn't!"  
  
"ENOUGH!" Regal thundered angrily. "Zapo, you will apologize to your sister, and stop trying to make her do something she doesn't want to do. Maxa, next time he starts to do something like this, just walk away. I know I'm tired of you two fighting, and all I ever has to deal with is your punishments and wounds. Ken and Kyry are stuck with having to stop you two from killing each other."  
  
"And we're stuck with the mess they leave" Ken muttered angrily to me.  
  
Regal looked sideways at Ken, an idea forming in her mind.  
  
"As for your punishment, I think Ken just hit the nail on the head. Why make them fix something you broke? You two are going to clean up the lounge, and, from now on, if you start fighting again, you'll each have to clean a floor of the house. Understood?"  
  
With downcast eyes, they nodded forlornly. At a nod from Regal, I released them from the vines, which promptly scuttled out the door. While Regal and Ken supervised the clean up, I headed back to the kitchen to finish making lunch. However, just as I stepped through the door, the phone rang. It was Slim, a senior member of the council, wanting Regal to head back to the Guild, ASAP. Curious as to what was happening, I went with her, taking Maxa, as she was the strongest of all of us. That, and she was finished cleaning. We rounded the corner to the Guild Head Quarters, and stopped, staring ahead in horror. The Guild was up in flames, literally. The entire building was engulfed in flames, with holes being eaten away through the roof, and the windows blown out. There was a small crowd of people and pets gathered out front, all staring in shock at the flames. As we walked over to Slim, Ken and Zapo joined us.  
  
"Oh my gosh, Slim, what happened? How did this start? Is everyone alright?" Regal asked hurriedly.  
  
"I don't know how it started," replied a slightly dazed Slim. "One minute, Kitty and I were standing talking with a newbie, and the next thing I knew, I was flat on my back, with black smoke filling the place."  
  
"Hey, guys? Where's Kitty?" Zapo was looking around, bouncing 10 feet into the air to see over the crowd.  
  
"Kitty? She was right beside me when I… When I left the building…"  
  
"Ken, GO!" Regal, Zapo, Maxa, and I hollered.  
  
But he was already going. Without waiting for Slim to stop talking, Ken had started racing towards the building, yelling at the other fire pets to join him. They quickly disappeared inside, lost in the flames and smoke. Jumping into action, Zapo went to gather all the pets he could to battle the fire, while Maxa moved everyone else out of the way, and I got all the pets with the ability to heal to tend the wounded.  
  
Soon, a small trickle of fire pets and wounded came out of the burning building. We quickly started treating their burns, and sent them on their way. All the while, I kept wondering if Kitty, another senior council member, was all right.  
  
'Of course she's alright,' I scolded myself. 'It's Kitty we're talking about, not some two day old newbie. She'll be fine. We'll be fine. Everything's fine. It'll be…'  
  
"Kyry? Kyry!"  
  
Startled, I looked up from bandaging a Kacheeks paw. Regal was looking at me funny.  
  
"What? What's wrong?"  
  
"Aside from the obvious? You've used enough gauze on that paw to stretch from here to Faerieland."  
  
Kneeling down, she quickly unwrapped all the extra gauze, finished, and sent the much-relieved Kacheek on his way.  
  
"You're worried about Kitty, aren't you?" Regal's eyes pierced mine. I could tell that she was just as worried.  
  
"Yes." I sniffled back some tears. "After all that talk about that statue in Maraqua disappearing, I don't know how we're ever going to be safe."  
  
"Kyry, the statue was merely stolen." Regal sighed. "That, or the faeries finally figured out how to move it. It did not come back to life, and it is not running around Neopia. I thought you knew better then to listen to rumours."  
  
"I do. It's just…"  
  
I stopped, as Regal was staring back at the Guild. Peering around her, I saw Ken and Kitty stagger out, Ken half dragging her to the aid station.  
  
"Give them some air." I cried, Maxa and I pushing back the pets and people crowding around her. I tossed a bottle of water to Ken, then helped Kitty sit up as she drank some water.   
  
"You alright?" Regal asked.  
  
"I… I think so." Kitty shakily replied.  
  
"What do you remember? Any idea what happened?" Slim asked in a hushed voice.  
  
"We were talking with the newbie, when I saw… something out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, and saw a small flame, then BOOM! everything went black, and the place filled with smoke."  
  
"What did you see?"  
  
"It was… It looked like the statue from Maraqua, but that's… that's impossible. No one can move it. And it was a statue, so it couldn't move. Like a faerie, I mean."  
  
"Like it was alive?" I breathed. Regal looked sharply at me, but said nothing.  
  
"Yes. She looked like a dark faerie, but moved like a fire faerie. I… I don't know how else to describe it."  
  
While Kitty was talking, I was trying to open her hand (which was clenched, as if holding something), to check for damage. But it wouldn't open.  
  
"Kitty, would you please open your hand so that I can treat your wounds?" I asked.  
  
Startled, she looked at her hand.  
  
"I didn't even know it was closed. Huh. Odd… Feels like I'm holding something."  
  
Kitty slowly pried her hand open. Once open, we all gasped in amazement.  
  
"It's… It's…"  
  
"The statue's necklace!"  
  
"But… How is that possible?"  
  
"There's only one way to explain all of this. First the missing statue, then the mysterious faerie, now the necklace. It all leads to one thing." Ken paused.  
  
"WHAT?" we all asked.  
  
"The Maraqua faerie… is alive."  
  
To be continued?...  
  
My deepest thanks to Slim and Kitty for helping me with this story. All questions and comments regarding the story are appreciated. 


	2. Rescue

"I can't believe it's real!" Kyry said.  
  
Kitty was clutching the necklace, the group clustered around her.  
  
"You guys do know that I was probably wrong about the faerie, right?" I walked into our lounge, and handed a blanket to Kitty. "For all we know, it's just a copy; a replica."  
  
"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Ken" Zapo scolded playfully. "There's nothing wrong with pretending."  
  
"Well, what if we go to Faerieland?" asked Slim. "Surely Fyora will know what it is."  
  
"Then it's settled" Kitty looked up. "Slim and I'll go there, get an answer to this."  
  
So Slim and Kitty headed off to Faerieland, intent on questioning Fyora about the necklace, and the faerie. We waved goodbye as they climbed onto the one o'clock cloud up to Faerieland. As we headed home, I just couldn't shake the feeling that we should have gone with them. Turning around, I watched as they disappeared into the sky.  
  
"What's wrong, Ken?" Regal turned and looked at me.  
  
"I just feel that we should have gone with them. I keep feeling like something bad is going to happen to them."  
  
"Oh, don't be such a worry wart! They'll be just fine. After all, what could possibly happen to them in Faerieland?"  
  
With a final look and a resigned sigh, I turned away, and headed home. Three days passed, and not a word from either of them. Feeling very worried, I headed for Faerieland, dragging Regal along with me. We quickly found Fyora, who said that she hadn't seen them. Regal and I then spent the next 12 hours searching Faerieland for any sign of them. When we finally gave up there, we headed home, to get the others. Two days of searching had turned up nothing, and we were running out of places to look. We ended up meeting on Mystery Island, the last place on Neopia they could be. After an entire day of searching the island, asking around, and turning down dinner invitations from some very persistent coconut people, we regrouped by a large forest.  
  
"Look guys. No matter how hard we look, eventually, we're going to have to face the possibility that they've been taken off of Neopia" Kyry said tiredly.  
  
"We just have to look harder!" exclaimed Regal. "I'm not giving up on my friends that easily!"  
  
"No one said we were giving up" I assured her. "We just have to accept the possibility that it may take a long time to find them. Look, we're all tired, so why don't we go rest for a little while, then continue?"  
  
Everyone seemed to perk up at this suggestion. We headed into the forest, in the hopes of finding a good place to rest. Instead, we found a road that, when followed for a couple of hours, ended in a large, military type camp. We were about to head toward it, when Maxa spotted something.  
  
"Look!" she cried out, pointing towards the camp.  
  
"What? I don't see anything." Kyry said, straining her eyes.  
  
"There, in the middle of the camp."  
  
"Oh my gods! It's the faerie Kitty saw!" Regal exclaimed in amazement.  
  
"And look at that!" I said, pointing at the building next to the faerie. "That's the only solid structure in the entire camp."  
  
"So?" asked Zapo. "What's so important about a solid building?"  
  
"A solid building is harder to break out of then a tent is. And all the structures are tents, except for that one. So, if anyone is being held prisoner, it's highly likely that they're in there."  
  
"Oh, right. I knew that!"  
  
Moving quickly, we hid behind some bushes. Peering through the bushes, we watched as the faerie paced back and forth, deep in conversation with her generals.  
  
"We have to free them," Kyry said quietly. "If she gets the necklace from Kitty, Neopia's doomed"   
  
"What we need" Regal mused "is a distraction.  
  
"And just where are we going to get that?"  
  
"I think I have an idea about that," I said, looking sideways. They all turned and looked at me. "Zapo, Maxa, I think your fights are about to come in handy."   
  
Gathering together, I quickly told them my plan, worked out the details, and then we separated. Zapo and Maxa headed back to the road, and started toward the camp.   
  
"Disco."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You'd look real good as a Disco Chomby" said Zapo.   
  
"ARGH! Oh, you are NOT starting that again!?!" cried an irate Maxa.   
  
"Well, why not? It'd suit your temperament perfectly."   
  
They continued arguing back and forth as they approached the camp.   
  
"What's that?" the faerie growled. "What's that noise? Find the source, and bring it before me!"   
  
Her guards sprang forward, dragging Zapo and Maxa into the camp. While everyone was distracted, the three of us crept in, and quickly made our way into the dome.  
  
"Alright, split up." Regal whispered. "Remember, if you get into trouble, run. Don't worry about the rest of us. Got it?"   
  
Nodding, we fanned out, each taking a section of the structure. I had just completed my part, when I heard Regal calling.  
  
'She's found them!' I thought excitedly. 'Maybe now we can put an end to this!'   
  
Quickly making my way back, I found Regal and Kyry in front of a dark cell. Lighting a Magic Torch, I went in. Kitty was lying on the floor, a trickle of blood drying on the side of her mouth. Slim was chained to the wall, her fetters the only thing holding her up. Dashing forward, Regal quickly sliced through Slim's bonds with a sturdy blue sword, while Kyry poured a healing potion on Kitty's wounds.   
  
"Wha... Where am I?" Slim groggily woke up.   
  
"It's alright" Regal quietly reassured her. "You're safe. We're going to get you out of here."   
  
Passing the torch to Kyry, I picked Kitty up, as Regal helped Slim. Quickly but silently, we worked our way back.  
  
Meanwhile, outside, Zapo and Maxa were up to their usual tricks. As the guards dragged them into the camp, my dear little brother decided to push Maxa just a little too far.  
  
"I know!"  
  
"Oh, what now?"  
  
"You could be painted baby!"  
  
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!"  
  
"Ya, then you really would be my baby sister!"  
  
That was just too much for Maxa, who pulled out her Chomby sword and charged Zapo. But before Maxa could hit him, he jumped to one side, causing Maxa to run into one of the two guards. Zapo quickly knocked the second guard out, and the two of them headed for the bushes on the other side of the camp.  
  
"Find the Zafara and Chomby!"   
  
Freezing, we heard the sound of an alarm go off somewhere in the camp.   
  
"Out the back, quick" Regal hissed to us. "And Kyry, put that torch out before they see it."   
  
Wending our way through the dark corridors, we swiftly made our way to the back of the dome, narrowly missing a couple of patrols along the way. Finally, we came to the back door.  
  
"It's locked!" cried Kyry in dismay.  
  
"We're going to have to blast them open." I said.   
  
Passing Kitty over to my sister, I positioned myself in front of the door.   
  
"Get ready to run."  
  
I let out a thundering roar, blowing the door clean off its hinges. Hurrying the others out, I kept checking behind, expecting the guards to be on us any minute. We raced as fast as we could to the bushes. Just as we reached them, a guard jumped out in front of us, bow drawn and ready to fire.   
  
'This is it' I thought in horror. 'We'll never make it!'   
  
Just then, a big blue ball of fur went flying past us, right into the guard, knocking him out cold.   
  
"That was fun!"   
  
"Ya! Let's do it again!"   
  
Zapo and Maxa grinned at each other.   
  
"No time for that now. Maxa, take Kitty. Zapo, you and Kyry go ahead, make sure the coast is clear. I'll make sure we're not followed." I added with a growl.   
  
They quickly disappeared into the bush, while I followed close behind, covering our tracks. A couple hours later, we were in Faerieland, heading for the Hidden Tower, and Fyora. 


End file.
